A man who had served on the city council of tiny Tabiona, Utah, for about six years resigned May 17 after admitting to police that he shot his neighbor’s teacup Chihuahua for barking, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
According to the Uintah Basin Standard, Wilbert shot the nine-month-old Chihuahua, Rocky, on May 13 with a .22 caliber rifle, later telling county deputies that he was “sick of listening to the dog barking.”
On May 19, Rickey Evin Wilberg, 58, appeared in court to face one count of class A misdemeanor aggravated cruelty to an animal, punishable by up to a year in jail, and one count of class C misdemeanor intoxication, punishable by up to three months in jail, according to the Tribune.
Tabiona Mayor Ronnie Giles told the Tribune that Wilberg, who reportedly has several Dachshunds, resigned to avoid involving the town in a dispute between neighbors.
"He executed a puppy," Rocky's guardian, Peggy Redmiles, told the Standard. "What right does he have to shoot my dog in my yard when I'm obeying the law?"
The Standard reports that Wilberg raised eyebrows last year when he said a crime had made him angry enough to “slap a horse or something.”